Above all, our skin needs to drink
Unearthing a high-tech anti-wrinkle treatment full of exotic active ingredients is a dream come true. But, deep down, our skin looks like us: above all, it needs to drink! He therefore needs a moisturizer morning and evening just after washing, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, whatever its nature. A natural reflex if it is dry, due to the need for comfort, but which should also be had if it is mixed or oily.
Because, moisturizing is not only a gesture of well-being: it is above all a health reflex. Ideal to compensate for the effects of stress or pollution, the use of soaps or aggressive treatments (scrubs, peelings), especially on the face.
Applying this mixture of water and fatty substances daily first offers the advantage of isolating the epidermis from external aggressions in a completely mechanical and simple way. Indeed, skin hydration is done from the water present in the body (plasma fluid) which soaks the epidermal layers. A small part evaporates (5 mg/m2 per hour), the other remains in the stratum corneum, retained by a kind of lipid “cement” which binds the cells together.
Retain water to soften
Poorly irrigated from the inside, his dead cells are not eliminated as regularly as they should. This is why the skin does not reflect light and appears gray. Signs that disappear thanks to active ingredients found in most moisturizers today. Indeed, they are also real anti-aging products, which can therefore be used very early. On the one hand, because they reinforce the solidity of the epidermis. On the other hand, that they protect it from external aggressions, that they moisten it on the surface and instantly plump up the cutaneous tissues by a mechanical effect.
Finally, professional make-up artists repeat it to us: for a foundation, a blush, a powder to be easy to apply, that they stay on well and that everything is harmonious and natural, it is important that the skin is smooth, soft and luminous. This is why, in the studio, the session always begins with the application of a moisturizer!
Create an invisible and waterproof film
The body is protected by an invisible natural barrier, the hydrolipidic film, made up of water, sebum and mineral debris. “Irri-forded” regularly, the latter remains intact, strengthens. Thus, it prevents the evaporation of the water present in the skin, and prevents aggressive agents, such as allergens and certain microbes, from crossing the skin barrier. A simple way, therefore, to avoid certain contact allergies, inflammations and even infections.
And then, water-soaked skin is more radiant, more velvety, more supple, like a fresh apricot!
Dermatologists do not hesitate to say that an epidermis that shows all the signs of dryness is potentially diseased, since its protective function is impaired.
The moisturizing active ingredients of a good cream
Antidehydrants. They prevent the water naturally present in the skin from evaporating.
The oils. Most often of vegetable origin (shea, jojoba, wheat germ, argan, olive, apricot, grapeseed, coriander) or mineral such as petroleum jelly, a hydrocarbon present in all moisturizers.
The squalenes. Of vegetable origin (olive oil).
Waxes. It is synthetic whale white, beeswax.
Sterols. A family of products that seal the intercellular cement (phospholipids, ceramides, fatty acid esters).
Humectants. They penetrate the stratum corneum and retain water on the surface.
Urea. Up to 10%, it moistens the epidermis. Beyond that, it softens very dry skin.
glycerin (or glycerol). A powerful water sensor.
Glycols. Propylene or butylene, they dissolve other active ingredients.
Hyaluronic acid derivatives. They have a strong hygroscopic power (which retains water).
3 tips to increase the effectiveness of your cream
1. Moisten the epidermis
Spray mineral water to eliminate all impurities, open pores and make the skin more receptive to active ingredients.
2. Apply immediately
When the surface is damp, the product penetrates better and less is used. If the skin is dehydrated, drop a few drops of vegetable oil before.
3. Trim the excess
With an absorbent paper, because the epidermis only uses what it really needs.
New, more efficient molecules
Aquaporins.
These are proteins responsible for the circulation of water in the body. This discovery, which earned the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Peter Agre in 2OO3, gave the idea to the cosmetologists of Dior research, then to those of Bioderma, to create first care products that deeply moisturize by stimulating the activity of these proteins.
Pro-active molecules.
Instead of providing the fatty substances needed to prevent water evaporation, they encourage the skin to synthesize its own epidermal lipids.
